Hello! I am so grateful you're here, my name is Sara the creator of conscious livin. I am an environmental scientist, I believe that small changes in our daily habits can drive large scale change. My intention behind this Ebook was to create a guide of ethical brands to make being an environmentally conscious consumer easy! Many brands at the moment are using buzz words like green, sustainability or eco friendly to make you believe that their products are environmentally conscious. However, most of them aren't! There is no legislation or regulation around the use of green or sustainabile wording so companies who are actually polluting our planet can market themselves as eco friendly! I believe money talks and it is business that will help drive climate action, so it is very important where you spend your money.
Because your money talks! I believe that in order to help hold large corporations and governments accountable for climate action is to make them listen. The biggest driving force in today's society is money, so by supporting companies that are sustainable we are forcing society to look at the climate issues we are facing.
I always like to push people to consume less, repair your clothes and don't get caught up in owning everything that is marketed to you online. All of your needs are already catered for but, if you do want or need to buy than I have put together some great brands to give your money to.
Zulu + Zephyr: A beautiful basics and swimwear brand that uses recycled and ethically sourced biodegradable fibres.
Patogonia: This one speaks for itself and needs no introduction, an outdoor clothing brand that is for the planet. The founder is so committed to climate action he sold his company and donated the funds to fight climate change. Arnhem clothing: A beautiful brand that focuses on creating a circular model for fashion. Creating their gorgeous pieces from sustainable materials with styles built to last years.
Ottoway the label: This is a beautiful label, their unisex timeless designs are created in small batches to ensure no wastage. Each purchase funds renewable energy projects around the country.
Daughters of India: a beautiful label who create in small batches and pay their workers a good living wage, create good working conditions, don't do wholesale and source sustainable fair trade materials. They also provide education for a village in India where their clothes are created. Afends: A brand that is committed to closing the loop in fashion. Creating their clothes from Hemp and even purchasing their own farm to produce clothing. This brand is making slow fashion accessible for everyone and leading the way for other big brands.
Merry People: A brand that doesn't market themselves as being sustainable but is taking action. They never overproduce, creating products that last, rubber that is FSC accredited, responsible + ethically produced (meaning they pay + look after their workers), as well as delivering all their products in recyclable packaging.
Pieds: A sandal brand who create each shoe by hand, to order and are not made from leather.
BB shoemakers: Based out of Adelaide, they create each shoe to order and ensures each shoe is
Veja: A sneaker brand that has an epic commitment to sustainability. Their sneakers are made from recycled ocean plastics and other sustainable materials. They Upcycle, reduce their supply chain GHG emissions, provide safe working conditions, pay their workers well above a living wage, do not run ads on their products and have total production transparency .
Footwear is still an industry that needs to catch up with sustainable practises.
Lots of large fast fashion brands will market one 'sustainable' shoe, but by giving these brands your cash you're continuing to support the other harmful aspects of their business.
As always buy less, buy second hand and try to buy ethically where you can.
Armadillo: Creates beautiful handmade rugs that 'lie lightly on the earth' , made from sustainable materials with fair trade practises. The sale of each of these products go to their foundation which creates a brighter future for a village in India.
Koskela: A brand that has helped protect over a hectare of the Daintree rainforest + replant thousands of native trees here in Australia, they're committed to producing high quality furniture in a closed loop system that lasts for years. The company also works along side many Indigenous communities to provide an income for them.
Koala: It was to my surprise to find out that Koala mattresses actually have strong sustainability practises in place. The company has donated over $2 million to WWF, recycle their old mattresses by partnering with Soft landing and donate 1% of their annual income to climate action.
Little Big Learning: Creates beautiful sustainable childrens toys. They plant a tree with every purchase over $75, they remove plastic bottles from the ocean with each purchase and are removing tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere.
Go for Zero: A great one stop shop for all things zero plastic living in your household.
Seed + Sprout: A great place to zero waste kitchen and bathroom products. I love their unbaking paper.
Bandhini: A Queensland based homewares business that use eco friendly dyes, natural materials and GECA cert stuffed cushions. Pottery for the planet: Have beautiful reusable cups and bowls. Their aim is to save 1.2 million plastic cups going into landfill each year. The living Co: This is a great website for sustainable homewares, they have lots of different sections which range from plastic free to organic.
Eye of Horus: These guys are honestly the GOAT for makeup in my opinion. They're sustainable, super transparent, vegan, cruelty free, ethically sourced, circular supply chain, no chemicals and parabens. They have honestly got everything covered.
Bluem skincare:I love this brand, I use their Kakadu plum and it makes my skin look so nice. Throughout their entire supply chain they minimise their impact. They are zero waste and totally ethically sourced.
Yay for Earth: Another skincare brand that I love. YFE focuses on zero waste and all natural ingredients. It is the best!
Zero Co: I am sure you've heard of this company but if you haven't then Zero Co is a one stop shop for household and bathroom supplies. What I love about this brand is everything is refillable, made from recycled ocean plastics and their mission is to remove single use plastics from our planet. They are also carbon negative! How cools that.
Sabbia Co: Another epic skincare and makeup brand that has biodegradable, chemical free and reusable products.
Sun JuJu: This brand makes great reef safe sunscreen that doesn't feel greasy or leave a white cast on your skin.The product is packaged in recycled aluminium and the company donates to the climate foundations marine permaculture project.
Seed & Sprout: This company does great refillable bathroom products to help you live totally waste free.
Bank Australia: A fantastic bank with great values, sounds so weird saying that about a bank haha! In 2021 they offset all the emission of cars they financed they do this by donating to a conservation project in Victoria that is helping to save native species like the bush tailed phascogale. BA doesn't give executive bonuses or employees, has a triple bottom line commitment to people, planet & prosperity and have been carbon neutral since 2011. So far they have also allocated 19.41 hectares for a conservation reserve.
Australian Ethical Super: I like this super as they don't invest in any coal mining or nuclear companies and instead invest in renewable energy projects. They advocate for the end of live animal export, plant based eating and stopping animal testing. They fund projects in the fields of conservation, carbon sequestration and wildlife protection. AES doesn't fund factory farming, conventional agriculture or deforestation projects. This super has 13x more shares in renewable infrastructure than any of the other benchmark shareholdings and has 2.5x the sustainable impact. Their share investments also produce 77% less than the benchmark.
Outback tails: I absolutely love this brand! They are based in Sydney and collaborate with Indigenous communities on their designs, to showcase their artwork. The dog toys are made from compostable, sustainable jute and all their products use eco friendly vegetable dyes. Another wonderful thing about this brand is a portion of their sales goes to helping rescue dogs in remote or Indigenous communities and is donated to Aussie wildlife charities.
Doggy eco: These guys create dog balls out of discarded sheeps wool. Making their toys completley biodegradable and chemical free.
Eco Dogs Australia: These guys make beautiful dog beds that are made from recycled plastic bottles and environmentally friendly foam. Biogone: Their dog poo bags are completely biodegradable so you don't have to feel guilty when throwing away your pups mess!
Cider & Basils: This company creates beautiful dog shampoo bars which mean you can cut out your plastic consumption. Their bars are chemical free and made with solar infused plant based oils, natural clays and no palm oil!
Dundies: The eco friendly reusable dog diaper for your ladies on heat or your oldies finding it hard to hold it!
Frontier Pets: As we know dogs need to eat animal products, so these guys are producing dog food that makes a difference. Their mission is to end factory farming and focus on high welfare organic ingredients for their dog food.
Zero Co: I have already mentioned these guys but once again they're the GOAT. Providing easy to refill cleaning products, with their packaging made from recycled ocean plastics. This company is leading the fight against single use plastics.
Evercleaner: Another great company who has been reccomended to me by a friend. This company produces cleaning tablets so that you don't have to keep buying single use cleaning products again! All you need is a reusable bottle, an ever cleaner tablet and some water and you're set!
Kangen water ionisers: I can't talk about cleaning products without talking about the almighty Enagic water ionisers. With varying pH levels this machine is a one stop shop for all of your cleaning needs. No need to buy a bunch of different products, just push a button and you have everything you need. Eco modern essentials: This company sells essential oils that are ethically sourced. Utilising essential oils like this means no more buying nasty chemical cleaning products that can pollute our waterways. The company itself has a great recycling programme, a tree planting programme and has removed 17,851 plastic inserts so far from switching to biodegradable packaging. Pleasant state: A female lead startup based out of Queensland, that focuses on just add water bars so that we can stop using hard plastics in the home.
Bandicoot by Brinkley: My all time favourite jewlery brand. Brinkley creates beautiful handmade pieces in small batches that are low impact on the planet. She utilises lab grown gemstones to further minimise impact and 10% of all profits goes to Balu Blue Foundation a beautiful wildlife charity.
Sarah & Sebastian: A brand rooted in circular economy philosophy. These guys only make pieces to order to minimise waste, offer a refurbishment service to renew old pieces and recyles all scrap to lower their impact even more.
Natalie Marie: This brand creates timeless pieces, designed to be worn for years. Each of their pieces are handmade to order to minimise on waste product and they use 70% recycled gold.
Holly Ryan Jewellery: This brand based in Sydney literally uses all the offcuts including the dust to make smaller pieces like backs to earrings. They have an in-built recycling programme and Holly can re purpose a piece if you no longer see yourself wearing it.
Temple of the Sun: Their studio is completely solar powered, they create pieces created to be passed across generations , they have total supply chain transparency and focus on circular production for their pieces.
Argent Silver Smith: This brand creates pieces from recycled Aussie silver & recycled metals, all gemstones are ethically sourced or lab grown and they offer a great repair and recycle programme
If you have gotten this far through this Ebook I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, your support means the world to me. I understand how hard it can be living a sustainable and eco conscious lifestyle nowadays with all of the misinformation out there. So I hope this provides some clarity and a one stop shop for your shopping needs.
As always try to consume less, thrift more, spend more time outside and know that your money talks! This climate crisis can be stopped, we just need to work together as a community to hold the people in power accountable for thier actions.
Where you can find me:
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@Consciouslivin_ Youtube: Consciouslivin_